What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[iank]

Force 10 From Navarone. Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford lead a stellar cast including Edward Fox, Barbara Bach, Richard Kiel and Carl Weathers in this 70s WWII pic based on the Alistair McLean novel. Ploddingly paced in a sleepy Sunday Matinee movie kind of way but watchable thanks to the great cast.

[Frankie Teardrop]

THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW – Jim Cummings had an indie hit at Sundance a couple of years ago with ‘Thunder Road’, making a werewolf flick a slightly surprising next move. In many ways TWOSH is the twin of TR, being a film about another brittle ego, again a cop played by Cummings, struggling with bereavement, failing relationships and a life spinning out of control. We follow Cummings as he tries to stay on top of a murder spree in a snowy, cut-off little town, but his attempts to use the investigation to prove his guyish authority only demonstrate how far he’s landed out of his depth. TWOSH is less about moonlit glades than the frantic pinwheeling of a man whose hubris is taking a dive, and perhaps TWOSH works better as a blackly comic character study than a horror movie. It’s pretty funny. Despite the emphasis on the sharp script, it still has an eye for the monstrous. Recommended.

EVIL DEAD (2013) – Seeing as though ED’s back in town I thought I’d revisit the remake from last decade. I still like it, it was and is a nice surprise in a way as there’s not much of an attempt to sanitise – the splatter is pretty riotous and the underlying grimness of the original (often overlooked, but ‘The Evil Dead’ was never as screwball as its sequel) is amped up. The focus this time is on recovering smack addict Mia and her brother, who have decided to use the family cabin-in-the-woods as the venue for another stab at going cold turkey. Apart from this slightly more elaborate backstory and some psychological window dressing, the set-up is basically the same – handful of young adults surrounded by a forest after dark, and there’s demons and blood and guts etc etc. One or two things irritated me. The musical cues were just too “ta-da – a horror moment – isn’t it dramatic?”, and this obviousness seemed echoed by some heavy-handed editing; all that stuff struck me as disappointingly clunky for a movie with such a lusciously skanky visual style. Also, just the characters and some of the narrative ploys dragged it back into the realm of noughties generic horror, although I accept that, like anything, it can only ever be of its time. I guess I was waiting for it to get really nasty, and it didn’t, even though it sort of did. It could never outstrip the wildness of the original, but, for slick product tailored for the multiplex, it doesn’t lack bite.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Tobe Hooper's independent almost documentary horror film, ultra grungy in it's realism, based on the same real life case that inspired Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), tells the tale of a group of five teens in outback Texas that stumble upon a farm occupied by a demented family of murderous cannibals.

A movie in which anticipation and suggestion create and maintain the suspense as much as any on screen action in a film which is relatively bloodless yet it still spawned the splatter horror genre.

The final third is grueling to watch with a dinner table sequence which remains horrible no matter how many times i've seen it, and with the crazed Leatherface flinging and swirling his chainsaw in all directions - creating a horror icon in the process - the film etches itself in the annals of horror.

However much of the opening hour is quite dull. The five teenagers in their beat up van traversing the Texan dust roads are thinly sketched and not particularly likable with the acting average at best, although Marilyn Chambers does improve a lot when she becomes the film's 'final girl'.

But, you know what? Any gripes i may have don't really matter, it's me, it's personal. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a landmark film in the history of horror cinema and i just watched a glorious restoration of it with f*cking Dolby Atmos 7.1 sound.

How awesome is that?

[MrBarlow]

The Outsider. 2014.

A military contractor travels to L.A. after hearing about his daughter has been found dead. When he sees the body in the morgue and realises it's not his daughter's dead body, he goes on the hunt to find her.

Craig Fairbrass takes the lead as Lex who goes round L.A. looking for answers and teams up with Shannon Elizabeth who may know her last whereabouts. Although James Caan is in this, don't get excited as his appearance isn't long and can be short. Jason Patric plays the detective who goes by the rule book while investigating the dead body and can bend the rule. This was a blind watch for me and had no idea what to expect , yeah Fairbrass is heavy handed and knows how to pack a punch, the action sequences are decent enough to be entertaining. One I'd return to.

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[MrBarlow]

Mark Of The Devil. 1970.

Set in the time of the witch hunt in 1700s Austria's , Udo Kier plays the young apprentice Christian who's teacher is played by Herbert Lom who is the most feared witch finder. Right at the start we see the justice or injustice of those accused of being a witch by the local hunter Reggie Nalder of two woman about to be burned, a priest loosing his hands, tarred and feathered, really great opening.

We see more of torture of a young baron and a woman being stretched, burned, poked and loosing the tongue. It's not all based on torture, young Christian knows a woman being falsely accused and tries to fight for her freedom and goes against those high above who uses God's name in vein and blasphemy for their own gain.

The cinematography has always been great to watch over the opening credits of the hills and countryside then to some nuns having a jog with some soldiers with a familiar opening score. One I'm always happy to view every so often.

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(Is this still banned in Germany??)

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Probably the least of the Ray Harryhausen Dynamation Sinbad / Jason films although it definitely has the best stop motion special effects.

The usual fantastical creatures are missing for the most part of the film replaced with Arabian Knights mythical chatter but when they appear the Troglodyte, Smilodon and Walrus all look impressive as does the Baboon which is central to the story.

Unfortunately Patrick Wayne as Sinbad is a bit of a charisma free zone but countering that is Jane Seymour who is simply stunning.

So whilst Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is the least it certainly has it's moments and remains very enjoyable.

[MrBarlow]

Tried to watch Miami Vice, Michael Mann is a great director but for some reason Colin Farrell was just a bit too dull and somewhat too much talky talky and switched it off, so decided to try this.

The Protege. 2021.

Something we have seen before, a young girl raised to be a assassin and seeks revenge. Maggie Q plays the assassin trained by Samuel L. Jackson, when he is killed in a hit, our lady goes on the hunt. Michael Keaton plays the man who is hired to keep secrets and be a hired gun. There is some good brutal fight scenes that were decently choreographed and Keaton knows how to handle himself in a situation. Aside from some scenes being a longer than they had to be I actually enjoyed this and worth checking out.

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[J Harker]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Tried to watch Miami Vice, Michael Mann is a great director but for some reason Colin Farrell was just a bit too dull and somewhat too much talky talky and switched it off, so decided to try this.



The Protege. 2021.



Something we have seen before, a young girl raised to be a assassin and seeks revenge. Maggie Q plays the assassin trained by Samuel L. Jackson, when he is killed in a hit, our lady goes on the hunt. Michael Keaton plays the man who is hired to keep secrets and be a hired gun. There is some good brutal fight scenes that were decently choreographed and Keaton knows how to handle himself in a situation. Aside from some scenes being a longer than they had to be I actually enjoyed this and worth checking out.



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I did exactly the same with Miami Vice. Bored the hell out of me.

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[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I did exactly the same with Miami Vice. Bored the hell out of me.

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Glad it wasn't me that found it boring

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Glad it wasn't me that found it boring

Nah, did nothing for me whatsoever. Easily the worst film I've seen of Michael Mann's.